Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization can be a complicated process, especially since Google is rumored to use over 200 factors when determining how high (or low) your car dealership website ranks on their result pages.  While most people attribute successful SEO to things like keywords, meta tags, and external links, some SEO vendors forget about the importance of internal linking.

Internal linking is just another way to help Google, or other search engines, tell what each page on your car dealer website is about.  Essentially, internal links are those that go from one page of your site to another (external links are to another site).  One reason internal links are a valuable focus for your SEO efforts is because you can control the text that is linked (anchor text), an important aspect of SEO for your dealership site.

Another benefit of internal linking is that is helps create a content silo for your auto dealership website.  Search engines look at the internal linking structure (which pages link to which, the anchor text used) to not only learn what each page is about, but also to help judge the quality of the site.  A well maintained content silo on your auto dealership site can be an extremely valuable part of your SEO efforts.

Make sure your dealership site has internal linking that is well-planned and effective.  If it doesn’t, ask your auto dealer website provider why.  It’s an important part of a well-rounded search engine optimization strategy for car dealers.

Have you noticed that when you use Google or other search engines the results page is showing different types of media, like video, images, local info, and web search, all on one page?  This is being referred to as blended search, and it is showing up more and more on search engine result pages.  Blended search gives your auto dealer website the opportunity to use search engine optimization across multiple channels to have more entries rank well.

When things like images, video, and news items show on page one of Google’s search results page, your car dealership has an opportunity to rank in all of those categories.  SEO for images means using keyword-rich alt image tags and surrounding the image with descriptive, relative text, among other things.

The SEO efforts for video are similar to those for images.

Since search engines have a difficult time “reading” what an image or video shows, adding descriptive text near the video and even caption for the video can help.

For news, make sure your auto dealership is creating search engine optimized press releases regularly.  This way, when your dealership or relevant keywords are searched for, your car dealer press release (linking back to your website of course) will have a chance to show in the results.

Search engines like Google seem to be going full-steam towards blended search, and auto dealer websites that ignore this will be left behind.  For more information, contact DealerOn’s auto dealer search engine optimization department.  I also found this webinar to be helpful when trying to understand the importance and relevance of blended search: Search Results, SEO and the New World Order: Blended Search 2010

Have you noticed that when you use Google or other search engines the results page is showing different types of media, like video, images, local info, and web search, all on one page? This is being referred to as blended search, and it is showing up more and more on search engine result pages. Blended search gives your auto dealer website the opportunity to use search engine optimization across multiple channels to have more entries rank well.

When things like images, video, and news items show on page one of Google’s search results page, your car dealership has an opportunity to rank in all of those categories. SEO for images means using keyword-rich alt image tags and surrounding the image with descriptive, relative text, among other things.

The SEO efforts for video are similar to those for images. Since search engines have a difficult time “reading” what an image or video shows, adding descriptive text near the video and even captions for the video can help.

For news, make sure your auto dealership is creating search engine optimized press releases regularly. This way, when your dealership or relevant keywords are searched for, your car dealer press release (linking back to your website of course) will have a chance to show in the results.

Search engines like Google seem to be going full-steam towards blended search, and auto dealer websites that ignore this will be left behind. For more information, contact DealerOn’s auto dealer search engine optimization department. I also found this webinar to be helpful when trying to understand the importance and relevance of blended search: Search Results, SEO and the New World Order: Blended Search 2010

Auto dealer search engine optimization is one of the most important things when it comes to the success of your car dealership website.  Without it, most of your potential car buyers wouldn’t be able to find your site online.  This is why your dealership website vendor needs to be well-versed in SEO, and be able to educate their dealership clients.

Avoid changing the keywords and SEO text on your dealership website.  When you have questions or if you disagree with what is being placed on your site, it’s important to have a discussion with your SEO vendor.  There may be a bigger plan than what you see, or your SEO vendor may have been mistaken about keywords your dealership wants to target. This is also true of other vendors that may want to change the SEO aspect of your site.

Of course, auto dealers should be (and are) in control of the search engine optimization on their dealership website.  Your SEO vendor should respect the changes you wish to make, help to educate you if they disagree, and be able to explain why they are doing what they are.  This is a huge part of being a SEO vendor, and I discourage dealers from partnering with any vendor that doesn’t abide by these practices.

Google has recently updated their Local Business listings guidelines in their efforts to further discourage any spam or inappropriate use of their Local Business listing service.  The new guidelines are listed here.

If your car dealer website provider or your Internet department has already listed your dealer website in the Google local listings, then you should probably double check to make sure that they adhere to these new rules, including:

1)      The business name on Google Maps must be your full legal business name.

2)      PO Boxes do not count as physical locations.

3)      If multiple users will be updating your business listing, use a shared, business email account.

4)      If possible, use an email account with a domain that matches your business URL. For example, if your business website is www.dealership.com, a matching email address would be you@dealership.com.

Google is always trying to refine the algorithms that they use to produce the most relevant, useful search results they can.  Either your Internet manager or your car dealer SEO consultants need to stay on top of Google’s ongoing changes and updates to make sure your dealership doesn’t get left behind.